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NEW REPORT ON PREDATOR AND PREY SPECIES:
In its latest report entitled "Conservation in a Fish-Eat-Fish World," the
National Coalition for Marine Conservation (NCMC) calls on state and
federal fishery managers "to begin moving away from single-species
management toward an integrated, multi-species approach that considers
interactions among related predators and prey." The purpose of the report,
according to NCMC president Ken Hinman, is to provide managers with
guidance as to what predator-prey information is needed and how it should
be used in making fishery decisions, particularly in reconciling otherwise
incompatible management goals. Marine scientists have raised concerns
about those fisheries that remove so many of the ocean's apex predators -
sharks, billfish and the big tunas - may be weakening an entire tier at the
top of the food chain and causing disruptions down to the ecosystem's
foundation. A related concern is increased catches of squid, herring and
other forage species that make up a critical part of the diet of these and
other species, and how that might effect efforts to restore their numbers.
The NCMC urges fishery managers to use the authority they now have to
make changes in existing fishery management plans (FMPs) and account
for the effects that fishing has on others species in the food web.
According
to NCMC, the report offers a template for a step-by-step process for
managing predator and prey species under each FMP. Copies are available
at a cost of $5 to cover shipping and handling. For more information,
write: NCMC, 3 North King Street, Leesburg, VA 20176 or visit its
website at: www.savethefish.org.
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